Tag Archives: brooklyn

Gentle Readers, a birds gotta fly, a fish has gotta swim, and The Practical Cook has to eat everything that’s not nailed down. During a recent journey to New York, a journey focused on eating, much ground was covered in 3 boroughs.

Smile if you like a 3-course dessert menu. (ChikaLicious: Chocolate Tart with Pink Peppercorn Ice Cream)

Here’s the list. Special thanks to Buttercup for tour directing and not stabbing me with a fork when I shot innumerable pictures.

Set your GPS to “Hipster” and head to Brooklyn Star in Williamsburg.

10 NYC Restaurants, 3 Days

1. Joseph Leonard: Highlights include great atmosphere, pork permeation, but strong veggies. The Brussels sprouts dish, and the cauliflower, are still in memory. Split a cassoulet that fulfilled all of my omnivorous dreams.

The cassoulet from Joseph Leonard included pork 3 ways and a whole lot of delicious.

Final course from ChikaLicious: chocolate, coconut, caramel, the dessert trinity.

3. Taishu-Izakaya Kenka: The crazy menu and specific rules aside (there’s a fine for barfing), the salted cow tongue was the perfect random snack. It was so perfect in fact that I ate without shooting it. Oopsie. The gratin was like the south and Japan had an unfortunate food baby.

The Menu at Kenka, Viewer’s Choice

Pumpkin Gratin with Floppy Bacon on Noodles from Kenka. Not a winner.

4. Bouchon Bakery: I would walk on hot rocks to get to this blueberry muffin, and nearly had to, subbing in Hot Rockettes, who were performing at the time.

The Most Delicious Blueberry Muffin Ever from Bouchon

5. The Brooklyn Star: Fantastic brunch spot for hipsters in Williamsburg, these people take a swing at biscuits and actually connect. I would not put cheese on biscuits for sausage and gravy, but still great. The masa cakes with chorizo, in a word, nom.

Biscuits with gravy topped by eggs, with juice. And a beer. Because it’s Brooklyn Star!

6. Num Pang Sandwich Shop: I want to eat here for every pre-dinner snack for the rest of my life. I loved the skirt steak bahn mi, until I tried the pulled pork with a touch of extra Sriricha. This will require retesting.

Skirt steak bahn mi from Num Pang. It is a beautiful cacophony of flavor and texture.

7. Joe the Art of Coffee: This made the list because of the salted peanut butter cookie. It was essentially a big lump of peanut butter with some flour and butter making a passing acquaintance. Yes, please.

8. Forcella: Great pizza, I just coveted the one I didn’t order. I think there’s a grass is greener analogy here. But I digress. If the pumpkin pizza is on the menu, order it. Because it was dark and I was hungry, I also failed to shoot anything here properly. Apologies, guess I’ll have to go back. (Thinly-veiled excuses, party of one!)

9. Olea: Order the merguez and almond-stuffed bacon-wrapped dates as sides, and then split some other dishes. The green eggs are a pass. The dates are not optional. Seriously. The almonds aren’t just paste, but chunks. Run, don’t walk. All found in my old hood, Fort Greene. I have missed you Brooklyn.

A good merguez is hard to find. This is that merguez. Olea in Fort Greene.

10. Roti Boti Restaurant: When I die, if I’m taking a taxi, I’m asking for a stop here en route. For real, this is the land up in Queens where you either live there or drive a cab, and it took planes, trains, AND turning on “location services” to find this pot of gold. Order anything you like plus bread. Die happy.

The largest, fluffiest naan I’ve ever seen. You can ignore the adage to not fill up on bread at Roti Boti.

Half of the dishes at Roti Boti. Get the chicken tikka masala, but risk never wanting it anywhere else again.

BONUS, Not Food But Still Awesome, The Parlor: Located in the back of a barber shop (naturally), I drank caffeine for the cause, though tempered with milk. This was one fine latte.

One shot latte from The Parlor. It was dreamy.

Who wouldn’t want an espresso with their fauxhawk?

SECOND BONUS: Doughnuts, Peter Pan Bakery: Pitched as one of the best doughnuts ever, I’ll admit that walking around Brooklyn eating it, I did have a moment. As a Krispy Kreme girl, that’s saying a lot for the cake-style. I would hold the Apple Cider doughnut from the Carrboro Farmer’s Market up against it. I plan on hosting a taste showdown at some point in the future. But when someone says, do you want to split a doughnut (immediately after brunch mind you, and en route to more food), the answer is “yes, please.”

Peter Pan Donut & Pastry: Because I could not stop long enough to photograph the actual doughnut.